BSN program at UNCW

Hi,

I've been lurking around the forums recently with no real reason to post until now. I'm currently a Biology major at UNC-Chapel Hill. I decided to change majors last spring and hadn't taken a few nursing prereq's yet (physiology, anatomy, microbiology, etc.) and knew that by the time I took them all, I'd almost be done with my BA in Bio. So, I am graduating one year early in order to "save time" and get my BSN sooner.

However, I applied to a few schools, got waitlisted at UNC, admitted to WCU, and UNCW (plus a few community colleges). Since I'm from Wilmington and I didn't really want to move to the mountains, I decided to go there for school. I had heard very few positive things about the school before I made the decision (if any), but I figured a BSN was a BSN, and I didn't get into Chapel Hill. I wanted to start right away, summer 2005, since I have already had the whole college experience and was quite frustrated that my mediocre GPA wasn't going to cut it for the average 3.7 GPA needed for the state's accelerated programs.

Can anyone else vouch for UNCW's program? I have only been disappointed up until now, since I was informed after accepting my admissions offer for the upcoming class that my real nursing courses with clinicals and everything wouldn't start until next spring, meaning I will graduate in Dec. 2007. I will be paying full-time tuition for fall to take one single three-credit-hour nursing class. I don't have tons of extra money lying around since I already have loans. Is it worth this? Should I consider waiting a year, working for that year, and then applying to other schools in other states?

If anyone has graduated from UNCW and can speak for their program I would be appreciative. As of right now, I am extremely disappointed with the professionalism shown by the nursing department, as well as overall organization, etc.

Thanks so much.

I don't know anything about UNCW's nursing program, so unfortunately I can't help you there, although I have to say that I think you should not have to pay full-time tuition if you are only taking one class. But, wow, UNC's average for the accelerated program is 3.7?!!! I was planning to apply there in the fall for the summer 2006 program, but with my 3.3 gpa maybe I shouldn't bother. How did you find out what the average was; I couldn't find it on their website.

I don't know anything about UNCW's nursing program, so unfortunately I can't help you there, although I have to say that I think you should not have to pay full-time tuition if you are only taking one class. But, wow, UNC's average for the accelerated program is 3.7?!!! I was planning to apply there in the fall for the summer 2006 program, but with my 3.3 gpa maybe I shouldn't bother. How did you find out what the average was; I couldn't find it on their website.

I don't have to pay full time tuition, it's just that I need to be a full time student to remain on my parents' health insurance plan. It makes me sad, but I am trying to get everything straightened out.

I don't know that I have seen this information about the average admitted GPA anywhere. However, when I originally decided to go to nursing school, after talking with one of the pre-nursing advisors here at UNC (who happens to be on the nursing school faculty and admissions committee) I was told that this was approximately the average for the past admitted ABSN classes. In fact, the average admitted GPA for the regular 24-month BSN program was somewhere around a 3.3 for this fall's class.

You should still apply for the program if you are really serious about it, but I would try to ask admissions if there is anything you can do before the application deadline to make you a better candidate. I was lucky that I had taken some prerequisites that allowed me to apply to multiple schools in the event that I didn't get into UNC, which I didn't. Good luck!

A few of the great things about online programs is that with the Internet, many traditional, fully accredited schools now offer serious online degree programs, and no matter where the physical school is located, you can easily do your practicum locally, no problem.

Online programs let you keep your day job, and study, take classes, and advance your degree on your own schedule.

Online can be a hard road to hoe, because I personally missed the classroom and being with people, but you can usually find study partners, and meet people online who are taking the same coureses. But when I had to weigh the pros and cons, being able to study and view my courses at night or on weekend on my schedule enabled me to keep my day job.

Anyway, it's hard to find a good list of all the online programs, but here's one that I came across: Online Nursing Degrees

I like this one because it is broken down by degree type, and it has more than just the online schools that people get paid to promote like on affiliate programs. I've never seen such a complete list.